JPH05505037A - optical parts - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] optical parts The present invention relates to optical components, and in particular to 1×2 optical components with low or no loss. Twin waveguides that can be used as switches or 2x1 optical couplers Regarding body amplifiers.

This type of optical component is used as an element in optical communication systems. IX 2 optical switches switch light from one port to a selected one of the two output ports. You can use your scholarly abilities. A 2X1 optical coupler accepts light from two ports. The forces can be combined and provided as a single optical output from the remaining ports.

Electromagnetic radiation used in optical communications is typically in the near-infrared or higher end of the spectrum. Located in the visual field. Therefore, in this specification the terms optical and optical refer to electromagnetic It should not be construed as being meant to be limited to the visible region of the spectrum.

In this specification, the energy of the semiconductor band gear knob is the band gap energy. It is possible to increase the current carrier by more than the band gear knob. represents the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation that has a quantum energy that can be

Optical components of this type to which the present invention relates are used for the production of integrated electronic components. It is formed on a semiconductor substrate using techniques similar to those described above. like this components are often called integrated optics. Different forms of integrated optics are e.g. For example, European Patent Application No. 0241143, European Patent Application Box 89302355 , No. 6 and British Patent Application Box No. 8920435.8. It is being Generally, for manufacturing the integrated optical components described in these specifications The technique described above can be applied to the present invention.

Other known devices include integrated optics that include separate amplifiers and splitters. E　E　E　EQ-Volume 17, No. 1, 1981, pages 23-28, 0ls Based on Integrated Optical Circuits (Laser Amplifier Planning and Analysis) by Mr. uka integrated laser amplifiers and passive waveguide splitters such as

E M on pages 73 to 76 of COC 1985 Post Deadline Digest, "Guided wave optical gate matrix switch" by Mr. Kobayashi is A 4X4 matrix in which a laser amplifier is inserted for gate signal and amplification. The switch is described. This part includes a splitter and gain block. The circuits are isolated and the device has a total loss of 22 dB and a crosstalk of less than 13 dB. has. Individual gates and combiners have 12dB loss and -18dB Has low crosstalk.

Electronics Letters 1986 Volume 22, No. 11, 594-596 Pages S, 5akano, E, 1noue, E, Nakamura et al. “InGaAsP/InP Monolithic with Laser and Optical Switch” by ``Integrated Circuit'' connects the laser to each of the two input ports and the output of the switch. Gainless 2X2 Carrier Injection Optical Switch with Laser Amplifier on Power Port is listed. Again the switch and amplifier are separated and the carrier injection is refractive index It is used to change the , but no gain is obtained. This device is designed for lower than 13dB Achieve good crosstalk.

Other devices are described in the following documents:

E COC 1987, Vol. 1, pp. 227-230, 11. Mr. 1keda, “Monolithic LD optical machining” by Mr. O1 Ohguchi, Mr. K, and Mr. Yoshino. Trix Switch”.

Applied Physics Letters 1987, Volume 51, No. 20, 1577 H. Inoue and 5. “Monolithic” by Mr. Tsuji "Distributed Feedback Laser".

IE E E 1988, Volume 6, No. 7, pp. 1248-1254 (1) “Integrated Laser Diode” by R. Xighimofo and M. Hsda. Optical self-routing switch using optical switches.

Electronics Letter 1989, Volume 25, No. 19, 1271-12 72 F, “Monolithic GaInAs” by Hemandex-Gi1 et al. "Tunable MQW-DBR Laser with P/InP Directional Cobra Switch".

Schi, Electronics Letters 1990, Volume 26, No. 4, Page 243. “Widely Tunable Y-Coupled Cavity-Integrated Interferometric Injection Laser” by Ling et al.

Electronics Letter 1990, Vol. 26, No. 2, p. 115 G, M Description by Uller et al.

A successful optical switch has low crosstalk and low or zero losses. There must be. The prior art of the above-mentioned reference document has a common feature that the connecting part The amplified or active portion is separated and is characterized by mediocre or loss talk characteristics.

According to the invention, at least a portion of both the first and second light guiding passages are a first zone extending continuously through or beneath which allows light amplification; and through or below at least a portion of both the first and third light guiding passages. characterized in that a second zone is provided that allows optical amplification that extends continuously into the a first light guiding path optically connected to second and third light guiding paths; Optical components are supplied.

The optical component is a laser in which the first, second and third light guiding paths are ridge waveguides. multiple semiconductor epitaxial layers formed on a semiconductor substrate that enable It is preferable to include.

The first light guiding path is such that in use the attenuated field from each waveguide is a pair of adjacent ridge waveguides arranged to interact with the ridge waveguides; Prepare.

The second and third light guide paths are continuations of each of the pair of ridge waveguides. and are arranged so as to diverge from each other.

the optical component includes first and second conductive layers that are each insulated from each other; The first conductive layer has a region where the ridge waveguide is in close proximity to the ridge waveguide. Continuously across one of the pair of ridge waveguides in both branching regions the second conductive layer is in contact with a region adjacent to the ridge waveguide and the ridge. across the other pair of ridge waveguides in both regions where the waveguides diverge. continuously extending the optical component through said first electrically conductive layer in use. activating the first zone such that the current passed through the first zone enables light amplification; the second conductive layer so that the current passed through the optical component through the second conductive layer allows light amplification. Activate the zone. first and second light guiding passages or first and third light guiding passages; By performing amplification associated with either of the light guiding paths, the It was found that crosstalk could be improved. In the light guide path where no amplification takes place. There is high light absorption in the light guide path while there is optical gain in the other light guiding path.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.

1 is an optical component according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is a line of the optical component shown in FIG. is a vertical cross-section through AA; FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view through line BB of the optical component shown in FIG. 1; Figures 4 to 7 are graphs showing the wavelength dependence of the optical component shown in Figure 1. can be, Figure 8 shows the optical connections used in obtaining the results shown in Figures 4-7. Schematic diagrams 9 and 11 of the apparatus shown in FIG. is a graph showing the optical properties of 10 and 12 are used to obtain the results shown in FIGS. 9 and 11. FIG. 13 shows the optical connections used in the switching assembly, and FIG. FIGS. 14 to 17 schematically illustrate how the rays are interconnected to generate rays. , which shows changes in the epitaxial layer structure of the device shown in FIG.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1-3, a PN heterojunction structure formed on a Optical components are shown. The underside of the wafer is used to form electrical contacts 2. metal-coated. The upper surface of the wafer forms a pair of ridge waveguides 3 and 4. It is etched to create a Ridge waveguides 3 and 4 at one end of wafer 5 are reciprocal so that radiative propagation in one waveguide can be easily coupled into another waveguide. It's close to.

The ridge waveguides 3 and 3 at the edge 6 of the wafer as they traverse the surface of the wafer. and 4 branch away from each other, respectively. Ridge waveguides 3 and 4 The waveguide is asymmetric in the region where the The wall 23 is shallower than the outer wall 24 due to the area 7 of material between the waveguides which increases the optical coupling. stomach. The top side of the wafer 1 has two regions 8 and 9 of metallization. contact pos The area of metallized links from the edges 10 and 11 to the surfaces of the ridge waveguides 3 and 4 The area is electrically coupled to the wafer through the ridge waveguide. Metal coating is dielectric It is electrically isolated from the rest of the wafer by body layer 19. contact 8 and 9, the current is separately supplied to the ridge waveguide 3 or the ridge waveguide 4. electrically isolated from each other. The end surfaces of the ridge waveguides 3 and 4 are An anti-reflection coating is provided at both ends 5 and 6 of C.

Typical ridge waveguides 3 and 4 are 1.5 to 3 μm wide and 0.1 to 2 μm wide. separated by a recess with a depth of m. Ridge conduction in areas close to each other The length of the wave body, in other words the length of the region 7 between the ridge waveguides, is between 200 and 400 mm. It is μm. The separation of the ridge waveguides in regions close to each other is between 1 and 4 μm. It is. Ridge waveguides 3 and 4 have a curvature length greater than 100 μm, 150 μm Curved in branches with radius of curvature greater than m and total angle of curvature less than or equal to 9° do. The total length of the part from the rear surface 5 to the front surface 6 is 1 to 1.5 mm.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the wafer on which the component is formed has multiple semiconductor epitaxial layers. It is composed of axial layers 12 to 18. Substrate 11 is n-type indium phosphide and on top of it n-type indium with a doping concentration of 25 x 1018 cm-3 A phosphide buffer layer 12 is formed. The active layer 13 of the device is between 0.12 and 0°22 It is composed of μm thick intrinsic InGaAsP. Band of material in layer 13 The gap corresponds to a wavelength of 1.54±0.02 μm. Layer 14 is 4-4-6 A 0.08-0.2 μm thick p-type insulator with a doping concentration of It is a dium phosphide. Instead, layer 14 has a wavelength corresponding to 1.1 μm. It may be made of InGaAsP with a gap. Layers 12.13 and 14 forms a p-1-n junction that provides optical gain when properly excited. layer 15 1. 1. Band corresponding to either 1°3 or 1.5 μm wavelength p-type 1nGa with doping concentration of 46X1017cm-3 with gap Composed of AsP, the layer is 0.03 μm thick and etched during the fabrication of the device. Acts as a stopping layer. Layers 16°I7 and 18 are layers with graded conductivity. layer 18 is the best to provide good electrical contact by the metallization 8. It has a conductivity of . Layer 16 provides electrical isolation between the two ridge waveguides. It has the lowest electrical conductivity. Layer 16 has a doping concentration of 4-6X4-6X1017 p-type indium phosphide with a thickness of 1 μm. Layer I7 is 15×1 0.5 μm thick p-type indium phosphide with doping concentration of 0.018 cm It is a thing. Layer 18 has a doping concentration of 2×10 cm to 0.1 to 0. ．． It is p-type In(,53)Ga(,47)As with a thickness of 2 μm.

Layer 9 is pyroxene, another silicon dioxide, or silicon nitride that acts as a dielectric. The thickness is 0.2 μm. layer 19 extends over the outer wall 24 of the ridge waveguide; By electrically isolating the rest of the wafer from metallization 8 and 9 , ensuring that current is injected into the device only through the ridge waveguide. metal covering Overlayers 2, 8 and 9 were deposited on a thin layer of titanium gold, i.e. titanium. A layer of gold, or titanium platinum gold.

Separation of the active layer 13 from the base of the recess 20 between the ridge waveguide and the contact 10 is 0.8 to 0.2 μm. The distance between the surface of region 7 and active layer 13 is 0 ．． It is 4 to 1.1 μm.

The exact selection of the optimal combination of parameters within a particular region is a matter of trial and error and the designer done by standard technology. Essentially, the identified parameter areas are shown in Table 1 and and should be seen as a tolerance area for the values of the parameters set in 2. . It should be recognized as a total tolerance area, and selected values from the extremes of the tolerance area gives a non-functional device.

The wafer is processed by known metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy or by known molecular beam epitaxy. Manufactured by comb processing. Optical components are etched metallized, bonded and folded It is formed from a wafer using photolithography through intermediate processing. workman The depth of the etching is determined by incorporating an etch stop layer such as layer 15 in the wafer structure. controlled by

In detail, the manufacturing process of optical components according to the present invention comprises the steps set out below. Prepare.

1. The manufacturing process starts with the wafer and the epitaxy corresponding to layers I2 to 18 A plurality of parts are formed having a substrate corresponding to the substrate 11 of FIG. be done. Epitaxial layers can be formed by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy or molecular beam epitaxy. Formed using a taxi.

2. The surface of the wafer is subjected to increased chemical vapor deposition to form a mask layer. coated with silicon nitride deposited by a plasma. Plasma is Formed from a mixture of orchid and ammonia.

3. Photolithography is performed between the ridge waveguide 3 and the contact post 10 and between the ridge waveguide 3 and the contact post 10. An etching pattern corresponding to the area between the waveguide 4 and the contact post 11 is defined. used for

At this stage, the area between ridge waveguides 3 and 4 is not etched (hereinafter (see step 14). Silicon nitride mass is a silicon nitride mass film with carbon tetrafluoride as the active ingredient. Etched using reactive ion etching.

4. After etching, the resist is peeled off.

5. The semiconductor under the silicon nitride mask is exposed to 200 to 400 watts of plasma. Dry plasma etching with a composition of 15% methane and 85% hydrogen at high power wet inorganic acid etching using a hydrochloric acid and orthophosphoric acid mixture; etching in areas not covered by the silicon nitride mask by be done.

6. Plasma etching produces polymers on the surface of the semiconductor and If oxidation is used in step 5, the polymer is removed by “oxygen ashing”. The wafer is exposed to an oxygen plasma.

7. Silicon nitride masks are made using silicon nitride (RTM) and ethythrochloride containing diluted hydrochloric acid. removed using a quenching solution.

8. The surface of the wafer is coated with pyroxene using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Coated with silicon dioxide.

9. Photolithography creates ridge conductors prior to metallization on the top surface of the wafer. It is used to define a contact window with corrugations 3 and 4.

The lO1 pyroxene is etched using Sirox and the resist is removed.

11. The metal is sputtered using a mask formed on the upper surface of the wafer. The pyroxene mask forms the dielectric layer 19.

12. The wafer is annealed at 400° C. for 2 minutes.

13. A layer of gold is deposited on the top surface of the wafer.

14. Photolithography removes the gap between the ridge waveguides 3 and 4 by etching. Used to define the pattern of material removal.

15. The gold layer is etched using argon ion beam ablation.

16. The semiconductor is a methane-hydrogen plasma containing 15% methane and 85% hydrogen. etched through a mask formed in gold by (see step 6 above) is followed.

17. The region between the J-edge waveguides 3 and 4 is etched to the level of the upper surface of region 5. be tinged. Photolithography removes the area between the ridge waveguides 3 and 4, the part is used to define the front surface 6 of the region and the front surface 7 of the region. Semiconductor materials are , etched using an etching solution of hydrochloric acid and orthophosphoric acid. This etsuchin After mapping, the surface topography of the part is well defined.

18. The substrate was cleaned from the exposed surface of the substrate using bromine in a methanol solution. It is thinned from about 300 μm to 100 μm by removing material.

19. Electrode 2 on the bottom of the substrate is attached.

20. In the final stage, the wafer is folded between the folds using normal techniques for individual parts. more divided.

A typical device according to the invention has a layer structure set out in Table 1 below and Table 2 It has dimensions set in .

Table 1 Layer Parts Doping Bandgap Thickness [cm’ Equivalent [μm] wavelength [μm] 2 Titanium gold 13 1-1nGxAsP 1.54±0.02 0.1514p-1nP 5.5X 10170.1515 p-InGaAsP 5.5X10 1.1 ,1.3or1.5 0.0318 p-in (0,53) Ga (0,47) As 2X 10' 0.1819 Pyrox (Silicon dioxide) 0.2 8.9 Titanium gold 0.5 In summary, layers 2.8 and 9 are the electrical contacts, layer 11 is the substrate, Layers 12, 13, 14 form a p-1-n junction and layer 15 is an etch stop layer. layer 16.17. fill forms a ridge waveguide, and layer 19 provides electrical insulation. cormorant.

Exemplary dimensions of the device When the optical component shown in Figure 1 is used as an IX2 optical switch, the light is incident on one of the ridge waveguides 3 and 4 at the surface 5 of the waveguide. The voltage is the current 11 The current I2 passes through the ridge waveguide 3 via the contact 8, and the current I2 passes through the contact 9. The contacts 8 and 9 are fed through the ridge waveguide 4 . Table 1 and and has the structure and dimensions specified in 2 and is 11+1212-27O. For a device configured as shown in FIG. 8, the normalized current, i.e., (1 The change in gain measured in dB with 1-I2)/270 is shown in Figure 4.5.6 and 7 for different wavelengths. The broken line is the ridge waveguide 4. It corresponds to a continuous line from the ridge waveguide 3 to the output and from the ridge waveguide 3 to the output. Figure 4 Smell with a wavelength of 1541.827 nm and a normalized current of -0,7. The output from the waveguide 4 exhibits a gain, i.e. a gain and a remission greater than OdB. It can be seen that the output from the edge waveguide 3 exhibits a loss greater than 30 dB. figure 5, 6 and 7 are +541.9.1541.998 and 1542.101n The characteristics of m are shown respectively. As the wavelength changes, the output from the waveguide 3 changes in OdB. However, it is recognized that the amount decreases below the profit margin.

This indicates the wavelength sensitivity of the device. Strong wavelength sensitivity is undesirable. Figures 4 to 7 The results shown in are obtained with equipment that does not include anti-reflective coatings on the end faces of the parts. Ta. By including such an anti-reflective coating, the component can absorb light caused by reflection. The sensitivity to wavelength should be reduced by a decrease in optical feedback. Ru. The total current of 270 mA through the device is below the laser threshold of the device. total Current (in the absence of anti-reflective coating): If it exceeds 330 mA, the device will produce an effect. Reduced optical feedback is obtained by increasing the injection current and Increase the laser threshold to allow higher gain. The device has a large wavelength range It operates with a gain greater than the OdB gain over the entire range. The device produces a laser action The maximum current that can be operated without are doing. Since it operates as an effective switch, the optical loss in the optical transmission line is 1 Must be less than 0 dB. Characteristics of the device at wavelengths with respect to Figures 4 to 7 gender corresponds to this characteristic in all cases. Current is in the direction of the laser threshold , the output from the device becomes very noisy. Optimal equipment The wavelength can be varied by changing the device temperature, total injection current, and device length. Ru. As the wavelength is moved away from the optimum wavelength, the device suffers an increase in losses.

9 and 11, depending on which of the two ridge waveguides the optical force is incident on. This shows that the optical properties are not very dependent on this. Figures 10 and 12 are similar to Figures 9 and 12. The optical and current structures used to obtain the output characteristics shown in and 11 are shown. vinegar.

As explained with reference to Figures 4-12, the device operates as a 1x2 switch. There is.

Figure 13 shows three devices interconnected to form an IX4 switching array. We will show you a general method of forming it.

Tree and branch structures forming switching arrays such as 1x8 and 1x16 Of course, it is also possible to connect further devices to the structure. The dashed line in Figure 13 indicates the proximity Remove breaks in the metallization so that the electrical contacts of the equipment used are insulated from each other. It should be noted that are shown close to each other for ease of explanation. However, it should be noted that all four output waveguides are optically isolated.

By reversing the direction of the optical coupling shown in Figures 8 and 12, the two produces a selective optical coupler that can combine optical inputs from multiple ports into a single output port. It is possible to accomplish this. Such devices have either a ridge waveguide or Alternatively, optical input from both can be selectively accepted. The device transmits in the opposite direction. The optical signals that are transmitted can be combined.

Referring to FIG. 1, when operating in this mode light enters waveguide 3 through surface 5. and passes through the waveguide 3 from the plane 6. The combined output passes from plane 6 through waveguide 4 to the device. exit. The input to waveguide 3 is reflected at surface 5, and the reflected light has a gain in waveguide 4. is combined with The device actually combines optical gain, or at least low loss. It should be noted that. This type of optical coupler is shown in Figure 13. assembled into an eel array.

As can be seen from the schematic diagram of ridge waveguides 3 and 4 in FIG. The ridge waveguides are parallel and in addition to the regions 72.73 described previously, It includes a region 71 that is optically insulated from. The particular structure of the waveguide allows easy Enables binding.

The components may be pumped electrically as described above or using light of an appropriate wavelength. Optically pumped using Pump radiation can be controlled by using suitable filters. is separated from the device output.

The wafer structure previously described has a bandgap equivalent to a wavelength of 1.54 μm. Based on InGaAsP system with Different wafer structures may be used, e.g. An InGaAsP material with a band gap can be used. Basically, to ■-V Telo structures are used for the fabrication of devices of this type, but multi-quantum wells, of operation at 0.8 μm based on a child structure and an AlGaAs/GaAs system. The system is of particular interest.

In the device shown in FIG. 1, the active layer 13 is the composite layer shown in FIG. replaced by a matching structure. In FIG. 14, the active layer 13 consists of two layers 41.4. Replaced by 2. The rest of the structure is the same. The layer 41 has a thickness of 1o 54±0. The bandgap corresponds to a wavelength of 0.02μm and a wavelength of 0.12-0.22μm. It is composed of an intrinsic 1nGaAsP material having a thickness of 1n.

Layer 42 has a bandgap corresponding to a wavelength of 1.3 μm and a wavelength of 0.3 μm.　2～ It is made of p-type InGaAsP with a thickness of 0.3 μm.

In FIG. 15, the active layer 13 of FIG. 1 comprises three layers 51, 52 and 53. has been replaced by a composite structure with The layer 51 has a thickness of 1.54±0.02 μm. true with a band gap equivalent to the wavelength and a thickness of 0.12-0.22 μm It is composed of InGaAsP. Layer 52 is doped with 3X1017 cm-3 This is a space layer made of gray-level n-type InP. Layer 53 is 1.3 3X10 with a band gap equivalent to a wavelength of μm and a thickness of 0.2-0.3 am It is composed of p-type InGaAsP with a doping concentration of 17 cm-3. Ru.

Instead of the active layer 13 in FIG. 1, a composite structure as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 is used. When used, the shape of the mode field changes as a result of the change in the refractive index and the device Move the destination field toward the bottom surface of . Optical amplification is the only effective switch operation requires that two ridge waveguides be involved. This effect is due to the fact that the deep four parts are Optical when used to separate the ridge waveguides 3, 4 as it reduces the spread Improve binding. It is also possible to make a good connection with the lower region 7 of the device. . The deeper the groove between the ridge waveguides, the easier the device will be to manufacture and separation is improved.

Region 7 shown in Figure 1 is shaped during manufacturing by controlled etching of the wafer. will be accomplished. In another embodiment, region 7 is between 0.1 and 0. It has a thickness of 2μm 16 by the deposition of silicon. Silico in area 7 Using the ridge waveguides 3 and 4 increases the electrical isolation of the ridge waveguides 3 and 4. Figure 16 The optical coupling is reduced due to the reduced asymmetry of waveguides 3 and 4 as shown in be done. In order to maintain good optical coupling, the material used in region 7 is 3.1~ It must have a high refractive index of ~3.4. Silicon meets this requirement.

Another suitable material is ion-doped indium phosphide.

Finally, the modified wafer structure of the ridge waveguide and contact posts 8 and 9 The structure is shown in FIG. In this structure, layer 16 of FIG. A stop layer 63 divides it into two layers 62, 64 as shown in FIG.

The provision of layer 63 facilitates the manufacture of the device. Layers 62 and 64 are 0. It is 5 μm thick and is formed from the same material as layer 16 of FIG. The layer 63 consists of 1. p-type InGaA with a bandgap equivalent to a wavelength of 3 or 1.1 μm Consists of sP.

Gain (dB) Gain (dB) Gain (dB) Gain (dB) abstract Niou-san S4I pot piece 7 casing 1 yen [epitaxial layer is InGaAs P Optical components manufactured from semiconductor wafers present in the system are and a waveguide. The ridge waveguides are close together and parallel to each other in the first region. , and the distance between them is widened in the second region. Each waveguide has an upper surface It has continuous electrical contacts on its surface. Components are low loss 1x2 switches Alternatively, it can be used as a 2×1 coupler with low loss.

March 26, 1993

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. a first light guide path optically connected to the second and third light guide paths; In the optical component, at least one of both the first and second light guiding passages a first region capable of optical amplification extending continuously through or below the section; and/or through at least a portion of both the first and third light guiding paths. A second region capable of optical amplification is provided that extends continuously below the optical components. 2. Multiple laser beams formed on a semiconductor substrate capable of laser operation a semiconductor epitaxial layer in which first, second and third light guiding channels are formed; 2. The optical component of claim 1, wherein the channel is a ridge waveguide. 3. The first light guiding path is such that in use the attenuation field from each waveguide is separate. a pair of closely spaced ridge waveguides arranged to interact with the ridge waveguides of The optical component according to claim 2, further comprising a body. 4. Each of the second and third light guiding paths is connected to one of the pair of ridge waveguides. waveguides, each arranged to branch out from another waveguide. The optical component according to claim 3. 5. first and second conductive layers insulated from each other, the first conductive layer being insulated from each other; Both the area where the ridge waveguide is close and the area where the ridge waveguide branches and extends continuously to one of the pair of ridge waveguides, and the second conductive The layer has a region where the ridge waveguides are close to each other and a region where the ridge waveguides diverge. Both extend continuously to the other of the pair of ridge waveguides and are suitable for use. current passing through the optical component through the first conductive layer enables light amplification. through the second conductive layer. activating said second zone such that a current passing through the optical component enables light amplification; 5. The optical component according to claim 2, wherein the optical component is sexualized. 6. the pair of ridge waveguides in a region where the ridge waveguides are close to each other; Optical device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, comprising a shallowed area between the bodies. parts. 7. A plurality of semiconductor epitaxial layers formed on a semiconductor substrate are InGaAsP. The optical component according to any one of claims 2 to 6, which is a system. 8. the plurality of epitaxial layers are formed on an n-type indium phosphide substrate; , n-type indium phosphide with a doping level of 2 to 5 x 1018 cm-3. oxide buffer layer with a thickness of 0.12 to 0.22 um and 1.54±0.02 an active layer of intrinsic InGaAsP having a bandgap equivalent to a wavelength of um; Doping levels from 4 to 6 x 1017 cm-3 and from 0.08 to 0.2 um a p-type indium phosphide layer formed on the active layer having a thickness of The optical component according to claim 7. 9. the plurality of epitaxial layers have physical properties substantially as set forth in Table 1; The optical component according to claim 7. 10. Any one of claims 6 to 9 having substantially the physical dimensions shown in Table 2. Optical components listed in section. 11. The plurality of semiconductor epitaxial layers formed on the semiconductor substrate are multi-quantum wafers. The optical component according to any one of claims 2 to 6, comprising a well structure. 12. The plurality of semiconductor epitaxial layers formed on the semiconductor substrate have a superlattice structure. The optical component according to any one of claims 2 to 6, comprising a structure. 13. The plurality of semiconductor epitaxial layers formed on the semiconductor substrate are AlGa Optical device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, which is based on an As/GaAs system. parts. 14. The area between the ridge waveguides in the adjacent area is the ridge waveguide. The optical component according to any one of claims 6 to 13, which is formed from the same material. . 15. The region between the ridge waveguides in adjacent regions is silicon. The optical component according to any one of claims 6 to 13. 16. 9. The optical component of claim 8, wherein the active layer is formed from a pair of layers. 17. 17. The optical component of claim 16, wherein the pair of layers are separated by a spacing layer. . 18. a reflective layer attached to at least one end of the plurality of semiconductor epitaxial layers; 18. Optical component according to any one of claims 2 to 17, comprising a protective coating. 19. Claims wherein the light guiding path comprises a substantial index of guiding the semiconductor waveguide structure. The optical component described in 1. 20. 20. The optical component of claim 19, wherein the waveguide structure comprises a ridge waveguide. 21. Formed on semiconductor structures by processes that include selective etching and metallization Claims manufactured from a wafer comprising a plurality of semiconductor epitaxial layers 21. The optical component according to any one of items 1 to 20. 22. The wafer is coated with one or more epitaxial layers that act as an etch stop layer during fabrication. The optical component according to claim 21, comprising a taxial layer. 23. Any one of claims 1 to 22 used as a 1×2 optical switch. Optical components listed. 24. 24. The light of claim 23, comprising an array of interconnected optical switches. Academic parts. 25. The optical section according to any one of claims 1 to 24, which is used as an optical coupler. Goods. 26. A light to which the optical component according to any one of claims 1 to 25 is optically connected. Science array. 27. 27. An array of optical components according to claim 26, wherein n=2m and m is an integer. 1×n switch. 28. 27. An array of optical components according to claim 26, wherein n=2m and m is an integer. x1 optical coupler. 29. Optical device according to claim 19 or 20, based on a system of InGaAsP material. parts. 30. Claim 19 or 20 based on the system of AlGaAs/GaAs materials Optical components included. 31. Claim 19 using a semiconductor heterostructure comprising a quantum well structure. Or the optical component according to 20. 32. Claims using semiconductor heterostructures containing strained superlattice structures Item 21. Optical component according to item 19 or 20.